Merry-go-round



M. CHEREAU Jan. 10, 1967 MERRY-GOROUND 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 31, 1963 MADELEINE CHERE/AU INVENTOR.

AGENI Jan. 10, 1967 M. CHER-EAU 3,297,319

MERRY'GO-ROUND Filed July 51. 1963 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 MADELEWE cHERAu \NVENTOR United States Patent 3,297,319 MERRY-GO-ROUND Madeleine Cherau, 15 Blvd. du Marechal Jofire, Angers, France Filed July 31, 1963, Ser. No. 298,902

Claims priority, application France, July 31, 1962, 905,663, Patent No. 1,339,597; Feb. 20, 1963, 925,407,

Patent No. 1,357,059

4 Claims. (Cl. 272-36) This invention relates to merry-go-rounds and has specific reference to a novel type of traveling carousel com prising a series of cars rolling on an undulating track and driven by means of radial arms from a central ring.

In such merry-go-rounds the radial inclination of each car is invariably dependent upon its location on the Switchback track and to the relative positions of said location and the central attachment or coupling. As a result, this inclination cannot be varied at will, and notably it is not possible to leave the choice of the desired inclination to the occupant of each car.

In order to provide a new form of excitement this invention provides means disposed between the car and its coupling whereby the radial inclination of each car is altered continuously during the operation of the merrygo-round.

To this end, a merry-go-round according to the invention comprises a preferably annular central driving member or ring, radial link means in the form of a plurality of radial arms transmitting to cars attached thereto the movement of rotation of this member, an undulating track as well as, wheels supporting the free ends of said arms and running along the track, the cars being pivotable about an axis in relation to said arms, an extensible element (such as a fluid-actuated or mechanical piston and cylinder) being disposed between the cars and the radial arms for modifying their relative position.

According to a specific feature of this invention, each car is supported by an auxiliary frame pivoted in relation to the car coupling, this frame consisting of at least one of the radial arms bearing on the undulating track through the medium of a pair of wheels running in succession on the same circular path along the track.

If the extensible element is a hydraulic or pneumatic cylinder, it may be disposed between a portion of the coupling and a portion of the auxiliary frame; this fluid-actuated cylinder could also be disposed between a rocker connected to the vehicle (or to said auxiliary frame) and one portion of the central ring.

It is an important object of this invention to complement the rolling and pitch and roll movements already provided in conventional roundabouts with a radial or lateral inclination (i.e. movement about an axis perpendicular to an axial plane of the track) movement controlled at will by the occupant of the vehicle.

On the other hand, when the vehicle bears on the track with only one wheel, a novel feeling is created by virtue of the suppression of the conventional pitching movement With this construction, each car can be pivoted on an arm carried by a single wheel, their relative position being modified at will by means of a fluid-responsive or like actuating cylinder disposed between the arm and the car.

Such arm may consist, if desired, of two convergent elements pivoted on a common axis on the central driving ring or annulus and interconnected a their free ends by cross members constituting the strap or yoke of the single wheel and also the supporting and reaction point or member of said cylinder.

Each cylinder is actuated from the car cockpit but a safety control may be provided for actuation by the operator of the roundabout from outside the car. If desired, this safety control may be common to all cars.

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Other features and advantages of this invention will appear as the following description proceeds with reference to the attached drawing illustrating diagrammatically by way of example several representative embodiments of the invention, it being understood that many modifications and variations may be applied to these embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims;

In the drawing:

FIGS. 1 and 2 area perspective elevational view and a top plan view, respectively, of a merry-go-round of the type broadly set forth hereinabove, wherein each car rolls on a switchback track by means of two independent wheels, FIG. 1 being shown partly in sec-tion on the 11 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 3 illustrates a modified arrangement for inclining the car in a radial plane; and

FIGS. 4 and 5 are an elevational-view and a top plan view, respectively showing an alternate embodiment of the merry-go round equipped with one-wheel cars.

As shown in the drawing, the present invention provides in a merry-go-round a series of cars 1 rolling on a circular undulating track 2 on which they are driven from a central driving ring 4 in a shaft 20, rotatable by a suitable power source not shown, by means of radial connecting arms 3, 3b, 3c, adapted to eontrol'the radial inclination of these cars and forming a radial link means.

According to a first embodiment (see FIGS. 1 and 2) each car 1 is fixed to a base 5, 5a and 5b (rigidly connected to one another), the base being pivotally mounted by horizontal pivot pins 6 and ball-and-socket or like joints 8 on a frame or chassis 3d, 7b and interconnected cross member 7a, whereby the arms enable the wheels 9a and 9b to roll on the same circular path on the track 2; the inner transverse member 7b interconnects the two arms 3b and 3c and supportsthe body of a fluid-actuated cylinder 10 having its piston rod pivoted on thetransverse member 5a of base 5. The ends 3d of arms 3b, 3c and the cross brace 7b together constitute a main frame supporting the base 5.

Conversely, the base 5 can be provided with a rockerlike extension 11 (see FIG. 3), a cylinder 10a being then interposed between this rocker arm 11 and one section 4a adjacent the central ring 4. In this version, 3' is the radial connecting arm.

Any action of cylinder 10 (or 10a) which alters the position of the base 5 in relation to the arms 3, 3b, 3c (or to the ring 4) changes the inclination of the car 1.

In view of the foregoing, it is clear that the merry-goround according to this invention adds a new motion or effect and new thrills to the use of conventional merry-gorounds of the above-mentioned type.

However, it was found that the novel sensation resulting from this new motion can be accentuated to a substantial degree by eliminating the pitch, for in this case the inclination or tilting movement is considerably cleaner and more pronounced, and less counteracted by the pitch movements. Since pitching results from the use of two supporting wheels running in succession on a common circular path along the undulating track (therefore always at dilferent levels) this invention also contemplates the use of a single carrier wheel, this solution simplifying on the other hand considerably the construction erection and maintenance of the merry-go-rounds.

In this case (see FIGS. 4 and 5) each car is attached through a single link 3 pivoted at 3a on the driving ring 4. However, this single link may advantageously consist of two convergent elements braced by one or more cross members 11, as seen in FIG. 5.

The link 3 is supported by a single wheel 9 running on the Switchback track 2.

The car is pivoted at 1a on the two elements constitut- 3 ing the bifurcated link 3, and the fluid-actuated cylinder 10 is interposed between the base of the car 1 and one of the cross members 11.

The bottom of car 1 may bear directly, for example by means of resilient pads 12, on the outer end of the arms of link 3 when the piston rod of cylinder 10 is in its innermost position.

It will be readily apparent that the movement performed by the vehicle in space conforms exactly with the contour of the switchback track 2 by virtue of the use of a single wheel, without producing any pitching movement.

Of course, the cylinder may be controlled individually or collectively, for example from inside each car and/or from the operators cab.

However, it will be" preferable to leave this control to the passenger on passengers of the car and to this end the cylinder 10, which may be mechanical,.electrical, hydraulic or pneumatic o'r constitute a combination of these means, may be actuated bya means 21 mounted in the car, such as a control stick, steering wheel or the like, whichcontrols the supply of operating power (e.g. pneumatic or hydraulic fluid) as indicated diagrammatically at 22.

Of course, a dual-control system permitting the operation of the cylinders 10 both from inside the car and from the operators cab may also be provided.

Although the present invention has been described in conjunction with preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that modifications and variations may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, as those skilled in the art will readily understand.

Such modifications and variations are considered to 'be within the purview and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A merry-go-round comprising an undulating circular track having a vertical axis, a plurality of cars on said track, each of said cars having a base and a frame provided with wheel means supporting said frame on said track, a power-driven central member within said track rotatable about said vertical axis, respective radial link means connecting each said frame with said member for rotary motion about said vertical axis, respective pivot means connecting each said base with the respective frame and defining a substantially horizontal axis for each car transverse to a respective plane containing said vertical axisand containing a longitudinal axis of the respective radial link means, and the base of each said car having an extensible connection means coupling it to the respective frame at a point remote from the associated one of said horizontal axes for selectively tilting said cars about said respective horizontal axes and individual control means at the respective car actuating said respective extensible connection means to produce a rolling movement of each car independently of the remaining cars.

2. A rnerry-go-round as defined in claim 1 wherein each of said connection means comprises two relatively movable parts respectively anchored to the base and the link means of a respective car.

3. A merry-go-round as defined in claim 1 wherein said connection means comprises a piston-and-cylinder assembly, said control means including a source of pressure fluid for said assembly.

4. A merry-go-round as defined in claim 3 wherein said control means further includes an operating element for said source inside the respective car, and each of said Wheel means of said frame having a pair of circumferentially spaced wheels engaging said track for imparting pitching movement to the respective car.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,583,287 5/1926 Fisher 27244 2,869,871 1/1959 Mitchell 272-43 X 3,104,103 9/1963 Hang 27236 3,196,557 7/1965 Davidson et al. 27243 X vRICHARD C. PINKHAM, Primary Examiner.

F. B. LEONARD, A. W. KRAMER,

Assistant Examiners. 

1. A MERRY-GO-ROUND COMPRISING AN UNDULATING CIRCULAR TRACK HAVING A VERTICAL AXIS, A PLURALITY OF CARS ON SAID TRACK, EACH OF SAID CARS HAVING A BASE AND A FRAME PROVIDED WITH WHEEL MEANS SUPPORTING SAID FRAME ON SAID TRACK, A POWER-DRIVEN CENTRAL MEMBER WITHIN SAID TRACK ROTATABLE ABOUT SAID VERTICAL AXIS, RESPECTIVE RADIAL LINK MEANS CONNECTING EACH SAID FRAME WITH SAID MEMBER FOR ROTARY MOTION ABOUT SAID VERTICAL AXIS, RESPECTIVE PIVOT MEANS CONNECTING EACH SAID BASE WITH THE RESPECTIVE FRAME AND DEFINING A SUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTAL AXIS FOR EACH CAR TRANSVERSE TO A RESPECTIVE PLANE CONTAINING SAID VERTICAL AXIS AND CONTAINING A LONGITUDINAL AXIS OF THE RESPECTIVE RADIAL LINK MEANS, AND THE BASE OF EACH SAID CAR HAVING AN EXTENSIBLE CONNECTION MEANS COUPLING IT TO THE RESPECTIVE FRAME AT A POINT REMOTE FROM THE ASSOCIATED ONE OF SAID HORIZONTAL AXES FOR SELECTIVELY TILTING SAID CARS ABOUT SAID RESPECTIVE HORIZONTAL AXES AND INDIVIDUAL CONTROL MEANS AT THE RESPECTIVE CAR ACTUATING SAID RESPECTIVE EXTENSIBLE CONNECTION MEANS TO PRODUCE A ROLLING MOVEMENT OF EACH CAR INDEPENDENTLY OF THE REMAINING CARS. 